Iranian newspaper publishes collage with calls for revenge against Western politicians – Merz in prison garb

Background of the conflict

The online post was headlined: "A list of those who must wait for the Iranian people's retaliation." The newspaper published photos of a total of 13 politicians. Alongside Merz, Trump and Netanyahu, the collage includes, among others, outgoing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, as well as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The European heads of government are depicted in the graphic wearing orange tops, typical of prisoners in US prisons.

The Persian caption of the collage, translated using AI, reads: "Resistance front. Revenge is inevitable. The criminals will carry the wish for death with them." With this, the newspaper picks up on language used by Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in a written statement circulated on Saturday. It said, according to state television: "Rache ist die Forderung unseres Volkes und muss ganz gewiss erfolgen".

Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father as Iran's supreme spiritual leader, spoke on Saturday in a message attributed to state television. He announced "Vergeltung" for his father's death, without naming specific individuals. The "criminals" on the list would "den Wunsch nach einem friedlichen Tod in ihrem Bett mit ins Grab nehmen", the statement continued. According to reports, Mojtaba Khamenei himself was seriously injured in the attacks and has not appeared in public since.

Reactions and assessment

The threats are set against the backdrop of the death of the former supreme spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He was killed on 28 February, the first day of the war launched by Israel and the US, in an Israeli airstrike on his official residence in Tehran. Subsequently, the US and Israel waged war against Iran for more than five weeks, until a ceasefire was agreed at the beginning of April. US President Trump has since declared the ceasefire ended.

During the war, Iran had accused European states of either failing to condemn the attacks on Iranian territory or of supporting them by opening their airspace to US military aircraft. Chancellor Merz had stated in January, during nationwide protests in Iran, that the regime was "praktisch am Ende" and could be expected to fall imminently.

US President Trump said on Wednesday that Iran was after his life. "Ich bin Nummer eins auf der Todesliste", Trump said. ZDF correspondent Theveßen explained that the renewed escalation in the Iran war was due to the fact that the basis for negotiations between the US and Iran was "zu vage formuliert" and needed to be renegotiated. ZDF reporter Jörg Brase reported that most Iranians wished for a settlement and an end to the fighting. During the approximately week-long mourning ceremonies for Ali Khamenei, the mood had been "extrem anti-amerikanisch", according to Brase.

Outlook

Khamenei was buried at the Imam Reza shrine complex in his hometown of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, more than four months after his death. The ceremony took place without public access. The mourning ceremonies had lasted around one week in total.

The newspaper "Hamshahri", whose name translates to "The Fellow Citizens", has a circulation of around 400,000 copies and is one of the highest-reach print outlets in Iran. The collage fits into a series of sharp propagandistic publications with which state and state-affiliated media in Iran have been whipping up sentiment against the West since the death of the former supreme leader.

The publication comes amid a phase of growing tensions between Iran and the West. The question of whether the ceasefire between the US and Iran holds is currently considered open. Observers interpret the collage as a signal from the new Iranian leadership that it does not regard the confrontation with the Western states it holds responsible for the war against Iran as concluded.